Ink Flowers

The print file prints up to 6.8 x 2.4 in at 300 ppi — fine for smaller trims or inset artwork, but too small to fill a 6 x 9 in cover at 300 ppi. Wider than a 6 x 9 cover: crop about 86% of the width, or use it as a wraparound across back and spine.

Zhao Zhong's flowers, each paired with a poem, echo the fine-style colored flowers of the academic tradition, but instead he used only ink. Fine lines define the contours of each plant, as well as the veins within each petal and leaf. Careful ink washes give subtle modeling to the forms. The combination of lily, narcissus, and peony is unusual as the three belong to no known seasonal or symbolic system popular in the fourteenth century. Zhao’s medical training may have influenced the selection.